Yet, no such initiative has been set forth to modernize higher education institutions in the same way. This begs the question: How will the potential technology gap this presupposes affect students moving from high school to college? Consider a Wakefield Research study which found that 74 percent of college students polled believe they would perform at a higher level academically if their professors integrated more technology into lesson plans. Additionally, 51 percent of students actually do achieve a higher level of academic success in courses that feature an online component.
Both of these numbers are up from 2014 and make clear that a failure on the part of colleges and universities to improve their technologies to match student expectations set in K-12 will adversely impact those students who enter their institutions. Moreover, these students will continue to experience the negative effects from this dearth of technology as they pursue post-academic opportunities. That is, today’s college graduates entering the workforce are expected to have a fundamental understanding of modern technologies. Without it, their jobs options will be limited.
Yet while college students clamor for up-to-date technology, their institutions struggle to implement it effectively. One problem is the learning curve involved for many academicians unfamiliar with modern tech tools. In fact, a Faculty Focus 2014 survey revealed that 72.7 percent of professors find keeping up with technology to be one of their biggest day-to-day challenges. So, one obstacle to deploying advanced technology stems from a lack of adequate tech training for professors. A secondary issue, however, is the resistance of some professors to integrating technology into their curricula. Administrators in higher education systems must address these issues or risks having their institutions lose their competitive edge.
This technology bottleneck developing between K-12 school systems and higher education institutions presents a serious challenge to college administrators. A good first step for relieving the bottleneck, then, would be for administrators to take a good look at the way that K-12 programs are implementing and using technology. Understanding this new model for education is vital to ensuring that colleges and universities are able to meet the needs of their students and successfully launch them into the real world.
Providing high-level network connectivity and proper training for faculty will go a long way toward meeting this challenge.
Sponsored by Cox Business
Each campus is unique. But one thing they all have in common is the need to stay connected and share information. Cox Business makes it easy for local campus buildings or departments to be connected to satellite schools or research facilities. With products like IP Centrex, Metro Ethernet and our Trunking Solutions, sharing information is quick, simple and secure. Visit us at www.coxbusiness.com/education to learn more about Cox Business Education solutions.
